Friends and Family

Driving to the Gregory's country home.

Mary and David cooking the Thanksgiving meal!

Friends Forever...Stephanie, Elizabeth and Anna! Mimi and Stephanie










Friends and Family...Family and Friends!! This Thanksgiving we spent our time with Mark's mom, our daughters and our new son in law, as well as a host of great friends. On Thanksgiving day, we went to the home of our longtime friends, David and Mary Gregory, for a fabulous Thanksgiving feast in the country. Then on Saturday evening, we went to the Carters for Beverly's homemade pizza and lots of fun! The Gregorys, Carters and us have all raised our kids together, been through thick and thin together, vacationed and gone to church together, etc. Our kids love each other and it is so fun to see them as young adults having fun with all of us. As I sat back and viewed all of this, I realized how thankful I am for these special people and how much they mean to me. Thank you, family and friends, for a wonderful Thanksgiving. I love you!

I'm Still Here.....

Hi Friends! I can't believe it has been almost 3 weeks since I have blogged. So much has been going on and time has flown ! First of all, we gutted our kitchen about 3 weeks ago ...enough said! Things are going great and I can't wait to show you when it is all done. We don't have a big kitchen, but a cute and cozy one. Just our size! In the meantime, I got rid of the red in the dining room, painted it a soft grayish, blue-green and distressed,stained and sealed my dining room table and chairs. We LOVE the look! In an earlier blog, I had said I was not going to distress or stain the furniture, but I fell in love with a fabric for the chairs that needed the wood to be a little warmer and worn. I finished everything last night and didn't know if I could make it out of bed this morning. I felt and looked like I had been HIT by a train, but I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad to have all of that behind me. It was a labor of love, but one I am so glad I did. I was going to post some pics but my camera battery was dead. Will post later! Hope all of my sweet blogger friends have a blessed Thanksgiving with your family and friends!! Love you!

It's About Time!

Saturday, I worked at the BEST little gift and antique store in Abilene! As the story goes, the husband of one of the owners told her "It was about time to get all of her junk out of the garage!"...thus was born(in the mid 1990's) a wonderful little junk, antique, shabby chic gift store called "It's About Time". Abilene women have grown to love this place and the three lovely ladies that run it. It is a place of inspiration,warmth and pure bliss to the soul and spirit. I have been blessed to know these women and occasionally work for them when I am needed. Although the store was hopping with business yesterday, I was able to take a few pictures to share with my blogger friends. Their Christmas Open House is next Saturday, Nov. 8th, and it should be a really fun event!! Hope to see you there!!


Charming and elegant, pearl covered birdies! They have little clips attached so you can clip them anywhere! I have one on top of a birdcage in my dining room! Wouldn't they be cute clipped all over a shabby chandelier?!?






A beautiful fall table set for a feast!




I love the turquoise shutter!






The little room that is painted black and accessorized with silver and white is so classy!

My personal favorites! Aren't these the cutest little snowmen you have ever seen?

What a sweet Christmas Village !

I love the traditional red and green decorations that greet you when you walk in the door!

Ouch!

Today started out great! It's the day we have been excited about for quite a while...the remodelling of our kitchen is about to begin! Nothing huge,like knocking out walls and such, but new countertops, appliances and some new cabinets. Well, I guess that IS pretty big and I am so excited and thankful that we are getting to do it! I left the house about 8:30 to go to water aerobics....a class I attend 3 days a week. Halfway through our session, during the "Russian dance kicks", I proceed to kick the edge of the pool where the fountain is. Kind of hard to explain, but there is a concrete corner that angles down into the pool and I kicked the living daylights out of it. OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!! For a moment I thought I had broken my toe, but it is just badly bruised. DOUBLE OUCH! I come home, get ready, and go run errands. I drop by the mall to return an item and head back to the car. As I go out the door, there is a large paper ad on the concrete and as I step on it, the slick side of the paper is facedown and guess what happens next? I go flying through the air and somehow land on my hands and knees. It hurt so bad, I couldn't move for a second. I finally get up, limp to the car, and lick my wounds. I finish errands, hobble back home and now I am sitting in the chair with my toe throbbing and a black and blue knee. I am going to a birthday party tonight at a Chinese Restaurant........ wonder why I feel a little apprehensive about going?!?!

A New Discovery!

For all of you cooks out there, my friend Susan recently told me of a WONDERFUL website. It is http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/ It has many different sites to go to, but her cooking site is a must to see. Susan has cooked several recipes listed and she has gotten rave reviews on all of them.
What I love the most is the fact she has pics of everything she is doing and explains how to do it. Perfect for new cooks! Emily and Josh are coming in this evening and I have prepared 2 of her recipes: Her yummy Pot Roast and Twice Baked Potatoes. PLEASE check out her site. I just brought my laptap into the kitchen and followed along as I cooked. It was really fun! Let me know what ya think!

Decision Made....No Stain!

After looking at the table and chairs in my dining room for the past two days, I have decided to put a clear sealer on everything and be done! I am looking for black and white fabric for the chairs and will paint the walls a grayish,greenish blue. It is the color of my neighbor's bedroom and it is so pretty....despite my description of it. If ya see any great black and white fabric that has the "Anthropology Store" look, let me know!! Have a great weekend!!

Part lll......Lookin' Good!!!

Everything is painted and I love it! I just had to bring the chairs in (without cushions, cause I'm looking for fabric!) and get a feel for what it will look like. The picture makes it look a bit whiter than it really is!I will decide tomorrow on how I want to stain or distress the chairs or if I even want to do anything else besides the sealer. Once I find the fabric, I will decide on a wall color. Painting the wall will be a piece of cake after painting all of those chairs! I have a new appreciation for my friends who do this as their "job". Hats off to Roxanne and Nancy!!! This is work, but I am so glad I did it!! Tomorrow will I stain or seal??? Check back in about 24 hours and I will let ya know. Also, Roxanne is coming over tomorrow to do a little project that we have been discussing....I am so excited about it and excited to get to hang out and watch her work!! Oh, by the way, Molly B I answered your questions regarding this project on my previous post. TaTa for now!

Hello Project...Part ll

I have the table and 4 chairs painted with Benjamin Moore's "Indian White". They look great but man am I tired! I have the last foor chairs primed and ready to paint. Guess where I'm headed??? Back to the garage to paint!! See ya later!

Goodbye Honey, Hello Project!

Mark had to leave today on a business trip, so it was an ideal time for me to get going on a project I had been wanting to do for some time. He was OK with me doing it, and with him being away, I can work long hours, not cook, and get it done quickly. Like a lot of us, we have an oak dining room set from the 1980's. I have wanted to paint it for a long time, but just did not have the guts to do it. Well, call me gutsy! I now have the table primed(except for the top...I will leave it natural) and 4 chairs primed and 4 to go! I will be painting it a cream, then wiping a stain over it lightly, and then sealing it with a satin, waterbase sealer. The pics are in order of how I started until I finished a little bit ago. If I get a second wind, I might just try to get the other four done tonight. My next post will show you the next step. Stay tuned and I will keep you posted!!! HEHE!!!!!

It's A Beautiful Morning!

I love opening my double, front doors in the morning and looking out on my front porch to a burst of fall color. Although I showed pics( in an earlier post) of the outside ,looking toward my front door, I thought I would let you see what it looks like from the inside out!! It makes me happy and also makes for a beautiful morning!!

What Would You Do...........

What would you do if you bought an old sink, small pot rack, chipped paint shutters and an aqua silverware holder from an old dishwasher??? Unlike me, you would probably not buy them, but these little goodies (and I might add,CHEAP little goodies) caught my eye and begged to come home with me. With a little thought and creativity, they have found a spot in my world and have added a bit of fun and charm in my home and yard. So here you go with a few "BEFORE and AFTER" shots of my finds. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Patch!

Today Mark,Lucy and I visited the Pumpkin Patch at Disability Resources Inc. in Abilene. DRI is home to many "special people" who are mentally challenged and need a placed to work and live. It is a wonderful place and the residents are precious. Every October for the past few years, they have had a Pumpkin Patch to help benefit their cause. While there, we ran into our friend Julie, with her granddaughter Emerson. What a cutie! Even Lucy enjoyed helping me choose pumpkins and gourds for fall decorating. Mark wasn't thrilled to have his pic taken at the Pumpkin Patch, but as usual, he was a good sport and cooperated. It really was a fun time!

Quaint Marketplace!

I am a member of SPQOH (Society for the Preservation of Quaint Old Homes) It was started in 1969 by a group of women who lived in older homes and helped each other "fix them up". A lot of these women no longer live in old homes, but they still love them and are there to "cheer on" those in the group who are following in their footsteps. We meet once a month, tour each others homes, go on field trips and just enjoy being together. With all of that said, we had our first ever "Quaint Marketplace" today at one of our member's beautiful home on the creek. Several of our members, including myself, decorated our tables, brought our "Goods" and set up "Shop". Members and friends attended and it was a HUGE success!! Fleamarket at its finest! We even had complimentary hotdogs,chips and cookies for the shoppers. Thanks Terrie for some great hotdogs. My pictures are just a glimpse of the fun and beautiful setting that we had. If you will check My Favorite Blog links, click on Gracious Goodness, Roxanne the Artist, Ella Elaine or Molly B's for more posts about the event. I don't know when they will post, but I know their posts and pics will add to mine. Anyway, it was a fun filled day for us girls!! Thank you EVERYONE for making this event happen!!!!!!